Bass Bagatelles

I. Appassionata
II. Allegretto Scherzando
III. Lightly Dancing
IV. Adagio lontano e cantabile
V. Presto

A preconcert lecture is not the most likely place to receive a commission. But that's the way this one played out. I often give talks at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles to excite people about the music they are going to hear. Afterwards, a crowd swells forward with questions, comments, and debates. But James Rapport is the first person to simply introduce himself, and then ask me to write him a double bass piece for an upcoming concert in Vienna. Just like that! I liked his dedication and earnestness. I play classical guitar and understand the concern to build concert repertoire for special instruments like guitar and bass.

James offered to visit me, instrument in hand, to share technical possibilities. I took the chance on this total stranger and was not disappointed. That visit inspired me to compose a set of “trifles” or bagatelles to see if I could discover an authentic voice for the bass—distinct from cello— that uses its full range naturally, without extended techniques other than pizzicato and harmonics. The other challenge was to see if I could balance the bass with piano in a way that complements both instruments. This is not easy—I find that the two played together often obscure each other.

There are five bagatelles and all of them in some way reference the sound of the open strings of the bass with their distinctive tuning in fourths. The outer bagatelles—the first and fifth— are dramatic pieces. The first is a moody and passionate dialogue between the bass and piano. The fifth is a presto that unleashes the energy inherent in the lowest bass string. That energy spirals and propels the bass into its highest bass regions and a dramatic conclusion. The second and third bagatelles are dances. The second bagatelle is a bit “jazzy”—the bass juggles skipping the bow across the strings (ricochet), plucking, and conventionally bowing a scherzo tune. Meanwhile, the piano dances and stabs chords in between all of those antics. The third bagatelle is gentler and entirely modal. It opens with the bass alone playing double stops (two strings at the same time) in a detached rhythmic phrase that alternates with a singing phyrigian mode melody. The fourth bagatelle is a remote resonance of the third, beginning where the third bagatelle ended in the highest region of the bass. In contrast to the other pieces, this bagatelle is both an adagio and romantically tonal, exploring the tenderness at the heart of this leviathan we call the double bass! This music is dedicated to James Rapport, both for his enthusiastic commission and his creative and delightful collaboration with me working out the technical issues of the work.